Hayward Fault Earthquake Scenarios and Video
Scientists in the San Francisco Bay Area fear that the next major earthquake here will strike on the Hayward and Rogers Creek faults. In order to better understand the potential for damage and shaking intensities, the USGS has created some simulations showing how waves would propagate across the region.

Video from Wired Magazine:
From Wired:
Seismologist Mary Lou Zoback of Risk Management Solutions in Hayward estimates a magnitude 7.0 earthquake on Hayward fault quake could result in $200 billion in damage from shaking, thousands of deaths and hundreds of thousands of displaced people.
Zoback likens the quake aftermath to that of Hurricane Katrina, which caused a similar amount of damage. The difference is that only 7 or 8 percent of the Bay Area’s losses will be covered, far less than the $56 billion that flowed into Louisiana from insurance companies after Katrina.
[Via Wired]
Thanks to Kerry for the tip!
Similar Posts on Geology News:
- USGS Earthquake Scenario for Southern California
- America’s Most Dangerous Fault
- Part 2: Bay Area Quake Potential
- Hayward – America’s Most Dangerous Fault
- Here We Go Again – Gustav Approaches Gulf Coast
yikes … makes me wanna recheck my earthquake kit to make sure I got everything
No kidding. I’m such a bad example for friends. I tell everyone to be prepared and then don’t end up keeping my earthquake kit in working order.
Whereabouts in the Bay Area do you live? I’m on a hill near downtown San Francisco, that allegedly had some of the lowest shaking intensities during the 1906 earthquake. Then again, I live in a 20 story high-rise built in the early 1960’s.
I’m in south Berkeley … not up in the hills (where landslides will occur) and not down by the marina (where liquefaction will occur) … and in an old two-story house
You guys and Andrew should maybe start a northern shakeout thingy – or at least meet for coffee!